Behind The Masks: Chronicles
by Oath Flame X13
Summary: everything seemed to have calmed down. Chris has gone on a trip. But a new, familiar force has somehow been re-awakened. Can the others survive these powerful foes without their friend? or will they end up in oblivion?
1. Chapter 1

Behind the Masks  
Chronicles

Chapter 1  
Elegant Killer

The stories you are about to read are different from those you've read before. They will not be told by the one who usually would tell them, because he was not here when they happened. During the time these stories occurred, Chris Guruma, Captain of our first squad, had absolutely no clue of what was happening. Instead, the rest of us had to deal with the incoming problems that suddenly came out of nowhere…oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hiroki Felinnou, vice-captain of squad one, and this… is my Chronicle.

It started a bright, partly cloudy day. The sun shone down every now and then in between the clouds making the light brown sand along the beach shore seem almost white. Countless families enjoyed their time off together, taking a dive into the warm water. Others simply sat back and enjoyed the weather.

As I walked along the shore, feeling the soft sand caress my bare feet, in my mind I recreated the multiple training sessions, reliving the lessons Chris, and Bryan taught me, trying to find something I might have missed. I walked for a long time, looking down at the sand in meditation, reviewing everything I could remember again and again and again. I could have stayed there for countless hours, enjoying the soft breeze and the ever so light spray of water that gently flew across the beach.

Like I said, I could have stayed there for hours, had it not been for the sudden tremor that begun, and the large wave that seemed to come out of nowhere, only to wipe away most of the people in the beach with one swoop. In a minute, the beach was clean, everyone had disappeared. I jumped into the water and used it to hide while I changed into my soul form. As soon as I flew out, I saw what was causing the strange uproar.

It was a short, skinny figure, with black, neck length hair. There was what seemed to be some sort of hair pin clipped to her hair. Three stars adorned her forehead. She wore a strange looking white outfit with extra long sleeves that covered her hands. The outfit didn't cover her upper hips, making the suit look somewhat like what a model would wear. There was what seemed to be a pink handled Zanpaktou under her arm. I spoke to her, trying to see if I didn't have to fight.

"Excuse me miss… but would you mind telling me what you are doing?"

She turned at me with an utterly enraged face, her eyes flaming with anger.

"MISS!? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TOO?" She screamed

"Sorry lady, you don't have to get all mad. It's not my fault I don't know you." I apologized

"LADY????? You Bastard! How dare you confuse me with a woman?"

Apparently she wasn't a she… she, I mean… well… it, was a he. But honestly I thought it was a girl. He even talked like a girl. Anyways, after I apologized I asked him what he wanted and why he was wreaking havoc.

"You still ask why I am here. I am Arrancar number 6, Luppi! I am here to destroy you!" he shouted

"…and why's that?" I asked

"The sins of the father, the son will pay! You are clearly the descendant of the Shinigami I swore to kill: Toushiro Hitsugaya."

Seriously, that's what he said. He thought I was Toushiro's descendant. Apparently I kinda look like him, which is cool. Anyway, after he said that I tried to understand what exactly was going on. I mean, if what happened in the anime actually happened, then Luppi is supposed to be dead... so how was he standing right in front of me?

"Okay… you want me dead. It's understandable. But IF you manage to kill me, which is highly doubtful, what will you do next?" I asked

"I will destroy every Shinigami in existence! Plain and simple."

"I see. Well, this is awkward… I never thought I'd get to kill someone so honest. So… shall we begin?" I asked

"I'll finish you off quickly so that I can move on to the rest of your pathetic friends… Strangle, Trepadora."

A burst of wind blasted off from his body, blinding me for a second. The blast disrupted the spirit particles in the area causing a large cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared his release form could be seen. It was the dumbest looking release form I have ever seen. A chest plate with a spinning wheel at the back with 8 tentacles connected to it.

"That's it?" I asked him

"Why you lit… yes, this is it… and it's more than enough for what I'll need. I only released it to save time, but I can easily kill you without it." He gloated

"I'm afraid you'll have to prove that. Now… rain…" I said as I unsheathed my zanpaktou "Mizumaru." (Water Ring)

My sword glowed blue for a second, the base of the handle extended as a chain with a diamond shaped kunai. I pointed the tip of my blade at him and smiled.

"Let's dance!"

The tip of his tentacles grew long sharp spikes, which he was obviously going to use to slash at me. He flung all eight of the tentacles at me, but using my blade I danced in circles slashing them all away like (as Chris would say) a mad spinning whirlpool. He seemed to be annoyed, and flung the tentacles at me at a higher speed, but I was able to knock them all back the same way. He continued attacking me and I continued defending, but after a while I realized I was going nowhere, so I disappeared from the area, and appeared some distance below him.

"You know… for someone who looks like a girl you're a pretty good fighter. You've forced me to change strategies, not many of my opponents are able to do that." I said

"You're just delaying the inevitable. Why don't you just let me kill you so we can both save time?"

"Normally I'd say something smart about that, but you're really getting on my nerves." I calmly stated as I took a breath

SHUNKO!

A white glow surrounded me flowing the same way the waves did. It burned giving me the sensation of being inside a tunnel of water and wind. I could tell Luppi sensed the increase in my reiatsu.

"What sorcery is this?"

"It's a special technique that uses your raw spiritual pressure as both sword and shield, repelling anything that comes in contact. While training with Chris and Bryan I found I could combine this with Mizumaru's shikai for a more technical approach. How do you like me now?"

"Like I said before, you are only delaying the inevitable. Prepare to die." He called

He began spinning sideways. The tentacles began spinning as well, but different than the way he was spinning. They spun in two different directions, intertwining with one another, but not touching each other, nor touching Luppi. They began getting closer to me, so I prepared my stance. As soon as I saw the opening I took my chance, using shunpo to sort of dance over them and come in for a quick strike. Just as I was about to strike one of the tentacles flew off from the group and blocked my sword.

Luppi quickly turned around and sent all the tentacles at me at once. I used shunpo to dance them all away in a big circle. I circled around enough to get in close, but he switched his tentacles around and pushed me away. They were really getting annoying, so I would have to switch strategies if I wanted to get rid of him anytime soon. I don't know how it happened, but for a moment I got lost in thought trying to find how to finish him quickly without using too much energy.

At that moment, he quickly switched poses somehow, slamming down on me with all his tentacles at the same time. The blow staggered me enough to throw me down into the ocean (big mistake). I cancelled all spirit energy activity and calmed myself in preparation for what was coming. I rose back up to his level, holding my Zanpaktou close to me.

"You really should be worried now. I must congratulate you though; you've managed to get on my nerves from the beginning. I suppose I've learned something today… I shouldn't hold back my true strength. Call forth the tide…Mizumaru" I called

The chain on my Zanpaktou straightened itself and a glow released through the entire blade. The tip grew outward into a trident tip with Diamond shaped ends. The glow faded showing the crystal clear body of the Diamond like trident.

"That's it? That's your Bankai?" he asked mockingly "You really don't think you can defeat me with that? Ha!"

He sent three tentacles, one after another, straight at me.

"Chire" (scatter). I swung Mizumaru sideways, releasing a spreading wave that knocked off the first one.

"Mae" (Dance). I swung Mizumaru upwards, releasing a whirlpool that struck the second one out of the way.

"Hoero" (Roar). I swung Mizumaru downwards, releasing a large splash in the shape of a dragons head, breaking the third one into several pieces.

"AARGH… you little pest!" he shouted

"Had you let me finish, you wouldn't have felt anything when you died with my first shot. That wasn't my Bankai. This is Mizumaru's second form, the crystal trident. Now… _this_ is my Bankai." I said as I raised my Zanpaktou.

BANKAI

The water from the ocean rose and circled around me, then released in a big circle. Mizumaru's six thin, bat-like water wings spread out behind me. My shirt became blue and opened up in the center, revealing a wing like tattoo that went up from the sides of my abs to about half way up my chest.

"Getsuei Mizumaru…" (Lunar Water Ring) "…Prepare to die." I said as I held my trident close.

"This power… how can it be so dense and so great?" he asked

"This is the true power of a Bankai… now… say goodnight." I said

A large wave formed up behind me as I held my Zanpaktou in front of me. I rushed towards Luppi and he rushed towards me. The wave covered us both. Our reiatsu crashed and exploded multiple times, as I slashed at everything in my way. One last explosion cleared everything, leaving a very thin cloud of smoke. As it vanished, I cancelled my Bankai and sheathed my sword. Mizumaru congratulated me on a well fought battle… for some reason. (He's really into fighting.)

The cloud vanished completely, revealing a severely beaten Luppi, with a cancelled release form. He looked at me with the strangest look in his eyes. It was as if he felt pain from having lost, but that he was thankful that I beat him. It was weird. I was expecting him to fall into the ocean and die there, but instead he slowly disintegrated into thin white lines. Just before he completely vanished, he flashed a smile in my direction. Then vanished completely.


	2. Chapter 2

Behind the Masks

Chronicles

Chapter 2

Newbies

Umm… well… okay, it's my first time doing this so… I don't know how this works. I guess I just tell what happened right… I'm supposed to use detail so… oh, hold on a sec., I'm supposed to introduce myself. My name's Kenichi… I'm an Arrancar. I'm still new so I haven't been assigned a squad or a number. I didn't join alone though. I joined at the same time with my friends Yasu and Kenji. They're Arrancar too. Yasu always has her hair up in a little tail at each side (I have no idea what you call that), and Kenji's spiky hair is… well, really spiky. My hair isn't as spiky, so you can tell us apart even though we kinda look alike.

Right… so umm… it was a day like any other, I guess. I was looking at myself in my soul form, in front of a clothes store that had a mirror in the door. Lucky for me we're all invisible in our soul form; otherwise everyone would be looking at me like a freak while I was cleaning the mask fragment of my inner hollow (which by the way is a Dolphin fin right on top of my head). After I got done cleaning it, without noticing, I started flexing a little.

"It doesn't matter how much you flex, I'm still bigger than you." (As if) Kenji said as he came in from behind in his normal form.

"Don't you think someone's gonna think you're crazy when they see you talking to yourself?" I asked him

"Not If I'm here." Yasu announced as she walked out from the corner of the store.

"Oh hey… so now you're both gonna look like crazy people talking to a ghost." I responded

"Yeah-yeah… so… same place same thing?" Yasu asked us both

"I hope it becomes a habit… its tasty." I responded

"I'll go get them and see you at the tower." Kenji said as he left

Afterwards Yasu and I, in our soul forms, made our way to the big tower right in the center of town. It's so tall you can see the entire city, and it's an amazing view. After a few minutes Kenji showed up with three pink ice cream bars. We had only been in town for about a week, but we already had something to share every day. That strawberry ice-cream was sweet… so sweet it could erase a whole days worth of bad-ness. When we were done with the ice-cream, as I was looking far, far away towards where the beach was, (you could barely see the people moving) I stretched my arms forward and noticed something written on my ice-cream stick.

'WIN-3'

I figured it must have meant something so I put it in my pocket for later. I looked again at the beach and, from what I could tell, it looked like everyone was running away from the water for some reason. At first I thought: a shark? Sea monster? but just an instant later a strange sensation fell upon all three of us. It was some sort of pressure… spirit pressure. There were two, no… three signatures. I quickly got up, looking around to see if I could find anything. This is when they revealed themselves.

It was tree strange looking girls. One of them was tall with dark skin. She had beautiful eyes and pretty wavy hair. She wore some sort of bone like bra, some gloves and boots, a skirt (all white), and her mask was like a weird shaped tiara. There was another girl with really long sleeves and three dots on her forehead; her mask was like a hair pin. The third girl was kinda wild looking. She had gloves and a normal looking shirt, a red circle around one of her eyes and a horn for a mask.

They looked down at us, as if they wanted to kill us. Surprisingly they opened up to us, which I seriously wasn't expecting. The first to speak was the wild looking one with the horn.

"I am Apache" she said

"I am Mila-Rose" the one with the weird bra added

"I am Sun Sun" the long sleeved one finished, then they all said in unison

"We are here to destroy you." in very calmed voices

We all just stood there, dumbfounded, trying to figure out what was up. But as we stood there, our eyes locked with theirs, they quickly unsheathed their swords and attacked us. It's a good thing Arrancars have super hard skin, I didn't have time to unsheathe my sword and block Apache's attack, so I raised my arm and, tensing my forearm muscles, managed to stop it with no damage. They were strong; they obviously had quite a lot of battle experience.

At that moment we split up into our own battles. Apache had chosen me as a target. Yasu was taking care of Sun Sun, and Kenji took on Mila-Rose. I lost sight of what the other were doing, so I would be able to go all out… still I didn't know why it was we were fighting, but if we didn't we were pretty much dead. I drew my sword and prepared for battle. She smiled sadistically and flew at me. I waited for the best moment and blocked her sword with mine in an upward slash, then followed up with a downward slash, which she blocked.

I flipped for a kick, and landed it, but she managed to fire a Bala while the spun downward. I tried blocking it, but it was too fast, and ended up with my back against the tower. She flew at me, her sword pointed straight at my heart. I timed her speed with our separation, and grabbed her sword right before it could hit; then I pulled her in and crashed her into the tower. I crashed her a bit too hard though and she kinda ended up inside the tower. For a moment I saw a faint red glow and a second later a large Cero was blasted at me.

I crossed my arms in front of me in an 'X' shape and took the blast, using the reishi in the air to stabilize myself and keep me from being pushed back. I wanted to fire a Cero at her, but I could have damaged the tower (more than it already was). She flew at me, and I flew at her, both of us using Sonido. We flashed past each other then turned at the same time. She didn't get to damage me, but luckily I got to at least cut her shoulder a bit.

At that moment the other two girls were sent flying into each other and right in front of me. I kicked both of them into Apache, making them look stupid as they rearranged themselves and took back their stances. Kenji and Yasu came in from the sides. There was a bit of a stare down for a second, and then it was as if all three girls had the same thought at the same time. They mumbled something into their sword and shouted…

"Leona" (lioness)

"Sierva" (deer)

"Anaconda" (anaconda)

They released their Zanpaktou and took on ferocious looking forms. Mila-Rose's clothing and attitude took on that of a hunting lioness, with frizzier hair and claws for a bra. Apache became all furry and grew horns. Sun Sun pretty much became a snake woman. After witnessing their released forms, it was as if Yasu, Kenji and I also had the same thought at the same time.

"Swim, Delfin" (Dolphin) I released

"Float, Mariposa" (Butterfly) Yasu released

"Sting, Escorpion" (Scorpion) Kenji released

We took on our release forms. My Zanpaktou splits into two separate swords with white handles, black blades and fin like curves at the tip. My shirt flew off and in its place a bone like armor plate covered my chest, ribs and back (who needs a full body armor when you've got steel hard abs). On the back of the armor a large bone like fin takes up the length of my back and at the end of it a very thin, long, flexible tail appears. At the tip of it, concentrated spirit energy (blue in color) forms in the shape of a Dolphin tail, which I use as my third blade.

Yasu's Zanpaktou turns into a small wand with a Butterfly at the tip. Her mask, a pair of Butterfly antenna, grows longer, and she grows large, white, Butterfly wings on her back. A simple, but beautiful release form.

Kenji's Zanpaktou turns into a slimmer, lighter blade. His right arm turns into a large armored pincer starting from the shoulder (which causes his shirt to break where the right shoulder is). He also grows a large scorpion tail with a long, blade sharp stinger, almost scythe-like (which I think is awesome (not as awesome as my release though)).

If they were ready, so were we; and nothing was gonna stop us… there was the fact that we _still_ didn't know why these people wanted us dead. For a second I thought that there might have been some kind of clue had we watched Bleach before, but none of us had seen the anime before, so I'm guessing we were all making it up as we went along. The three girls moved back some distance and began charging a large amount of red reiatsu. A few seconds later three large ceros were fired at us.

Yasu used her wand, which gathers up the reishi in the air, and created a shield that blocked the one of the Cero's. I used my dual blades to rapid slash and disintegrate the other one (which was hard as heck). Kenji took the hit using the armor on his right arm and his tail. Once the Cero's dissipated we took a risk and executed a move that we hadn't perfected yet. Kenji got in the center and opened his pincer, Yasu went next to him and pointed her wand forward, and I came up from the other side and pointed the tip of one of my sword forward.

Three red orbs formed and moved in a circle for a little while, they then joined together forming a large red orb. We call the orb 'Delta Cero'. We released it, causing a massive blast and disruption of the atmosphere. The disruption disappeared after a few seconds, clearing our sight. The three girls were floating weakly in midair. Their release forms had been cancelled. Apparently a triple Cero is stronger than three separate Cero's. It's the only way I could explain the amount of damage they seem to have taken.

They took as second, as if taking a breather, then moved closer together. They pulled and ripped (yeah, ripped) one of their arms off. What are they nuts? What can they gain from ripping off one of their arms? That's what we all thought, until we saw them put the arms together, which let off a glow. It was a glow, but it felt as evil as nothing I have felt before. From the glow, a colossal, hollow like beast appeared, ugly or uglier than the word itself. Its pressure was strong… as strong as all three of the girls put together, maybe even stronger, I couldn't quite measure it.

Its appearance was like putting several things together. Its legs were like a horses legs, completely hairy with hooves at the bottom, his forearms were also hairy. Its torso was like that of a human; however his face was covered by a deer-like mask with large horns growing sideways. Over its head was like a dark brown lion's mane that fell down covering its entire back. Just under its mane was a long snake tail, which it moved around threateningly.

Suddenly, it disappeared. We looked around for it, but we couldn't even sense it. Suddenly it appeared right in front of me. It grabbed me and squeezed me tightly, taking away all of my breath. I felt myself fading away into thin air with each passing second. My eyes closed for a second. I struggled to open them up, but all I managed to see was the giant beast, about 300 feet away, while I seemingly fell to my doom. My eyes closed slowly as I saw a pair of lines flying round in high speed attacking the beast.

I felt as I continued fading away little by little. I strange scenery came into view, even though I still had my eyes closed. I suddenly found myself standing on a rock surrounded by sand and… seashells? As I looked up I noticed that I was actually underwater. Completely underwater. I would have held my breath, had it not been because I appeared underwater in the first place. I looked around, puzzled, trying to figure out where I was. When I thought something to myself, I somehow heard it, echoing through wherever I was.

"What is this place? Where am I?" I heard myself think (that sounds weird doesn't it?)

"You're inside yourself… in your mind…" I heard a voice say

"Who's there?!" I asked

"Look forward…" it responded

I looked forward and saw a figure coming closer towards me, swimming actually. As it came close enough I could begin to see what it was. A bone white Dolphin with thin black lines running through its body. His eyes were deep and powerful, blue in color. It came close to me slowly and spoke.

"Why are you startled?"He asked

"I'm underwater… go figure. Who are you anyway?" I asked, knowing the answer already

"I am your Zanpaktou spirit, Delfin."

"I… I didn't know an Arrancars Zanpaktou was like a Shinigami Zanpaktou." I added

"They are not. A Shinigami Zanpaktou spirit is a spirit on its own, a separate life. While an Arrancar Zanpaktou Spirit is an extension of the wielders' own spirit, a manifestation of the wielders' Inner Hollow; it is born when Arrancar and sword meet for the first time." he explained

"So in other words… you… you are me?" I asked

"In a way… yes."

"I see… so… what am I doing… inside me?" I asked, utterly confused

"You are experiencing the Oath."

"What?"

"When a human wielder and their Zanpaktou meet face to face for the first time, they get a chance to become one in Spirit. Once they do, their inner power is drawn out, far exceeding their original strength. The Oath symbolizes this event. Unlike when hollows are turned into Arrancars."

"Wow… cool." I reacted "I never thought I'd get to meet my Inner Hollow… much less that I'd be able to become stronger. Oh my God… Yasu, Kenji! They're still fighting that… that thing! I have to… we have to get back there Delfin, we have to help them!" I reacted

"There is only one way."

"How?" I asked

"Kenichi… will you make an Oath of power, and accept the unity of our strength?"

"I will… I make an Oath of unity and power, that our strengths be as one." I answered

"Then… let us… become one!"

I raised my hand towards him, at the exact moment we came in contact, a bright light burst out, returning me to my body. I got up from the hole I was in, (apparently that's how hard I crashed) and flew up to where the beast was. Yasu and Kenji were knocked out; the strange beast was flying about swinging its arms wildly.

"How… is he still alive?" I heard Sun Sun asked

"He should be more than dead!" Apache added

I turned towards them.

"I can't die… I made an Oath."

**Swim… Delfin!**

My Zanpaktou released a splash of reiatsu like water, the first time it did that, then multiple splashes coursed through my body. One final splash revealed my release form. For the first time I could feel the extent of my own pressure. It wasn't the strongest thing I've ever felt, but it felt immeasurably much stronger than it ever was. Not just my spirit energy, but my body itself felt different. My muscles felt pumped to the max, my bones felt like a steel armor, I could feel how my blood ran through my veins.

The beast noticed the increase in my reiatsu and directed itself towards me. It swing its huge fist at me, I stopped it with the tip of my blade. I gave a quick flick of my wrist, cutting off a couple of its fingers. It pulled its hand back, enraged and in pain. I thought I was seeing things when I saw it grow bigger with its anger. But no, I wasn't seeing things, he did grow bigger. But I felt no fear… I made an Oath, and that Oath gave me power.

The beast swings its other fist at me, which I stopped and sliced with my energy tail, cutting off some fingers out of that fist as well. I took up my speed stance and got closer with Sonido. My reaction speed had also drastically increased. It was as if I was slicing with four hands instead of two and two tails instead of one. I continued slicing every piece of giant hollow beast I saw in front of me, finishing with one big vertical spinning tail slash.

The giant beast was cut into so many pieces it would take hours to count. The pieces slowly vanished into thin air. Apache, Sun Sun and Mila-Rose flew towards me all at once. I readied a stance to fight them off. Just when I was about to start slicing, a swift wind sliced at all three of them, and they all vanished away. I felt a fluctuation in reiatsu close to me and, cancelling my release form, looked round to see what it was.

"Miss Zile! What are you doing here?" I asked

"I was in the neighborhood. You okay?" She asked with her usual smile

"Yes… thank you."

"No problem… come on, let's get your friends some help."

She took care of Yasu, while I carried Kenji back to the Squad house.


	3. Chapter 3

Behind The Masks

Chronicles

Chapter 3

Three Seats of Pain

So it's my turn to talk. Hello, my name is Kirou Senshi. I am the third seat of squad one. Chris decided we should continue rounding out the squads before he left for his trip, just to make sure everything was secure. It's been about 7, maybe 8 months since he left. All of the shinigami squads have been hard at work doing Bankai training. It's not easy, it takes dedication, time and lots of work… lots of hard work. I've been entrusted with this story, my chronicle; the story that oponed my eyes.

Ever since I joined the squad, and even before that, I've always been confident of my strenght. Through my mind, the thought that I could handle myself on my own was always burning brightly. After I joined, I became so much stronger, that the thought seemed to have gained strenght with me. People seemed to like the way I was, but I still insisted to fight by myself. I never took company. The worst thing of it all is… every time I won a battle I felt bigger, stronger… and I continued being more stubborn.

My chronicle begins on a day like any other. I had just gotten to the Squad House and made my way to the third floor. Captain Milton's girlfriend Zile and some new guy had just come in through the window carrying two wounded arrancar. A few seconds later Vice-Captain Hiroki came in, through the windows as well, obviously battle scarred.

"Captain Charles!" Hiroki shouted as he went towards Captain Arrancar 2

"You're here for a battle report?" Charles responded

"Yes… how did?"

"I recieved the signal on the computer. Two battles, big scale, both at once." Charles said as he cheked the computer "New guy, con here for a sec."

The newbie arrancar went up to Charles.

"Yes sir?" he asked

"What went on? I detected strong signs of reiatsu… stronger than I would be expecting." Charles said

"Well… we were at the tower in the center of town… me, Yasu, and Kenji. These three arrancar girls came out of nowhere and attacked us. We used our release forms to fight them off, but then they summoned some huge beast and…"

"Huge beast? Who exactly were you fighting?" Charles asked

"They had there weird names" the newbie responded "they were… umm… Apache, Mila-Rose and…"

"Sun Sun… what? How?… theyre supposed to be dead!" Charles reacted, almost screaming, as he stood up from the chair "Hiroki, who did you fight?"

"Luppi. I thought he was a girl though." Hiroki answered

"This is strange… i dont get it. I understand that in that weird dimension the Zanpaktou spirits can be called forth… however, an arrancar that was killed ages ago magically coming to life is beyond me… I have to do some research." he said gong back to the compter

"Umm… maybe its residual spirit energy?" the newbie commented

"That wouldn't explain why they would hold such power." Charles answered

"Is it relevant to mention that Luppi showed a gratitude face before he faded away?" Hiroki added

"Hmm… so theres a reason for them being here… a reason against their will… at least against Luppi's. We'll have to check into this better." Charles said

Just as he was done thinking out loud the computer let off a signal, as strong as the last two.

"another one?" Charles asked out loud

"I'll go!" I volunteered

"You sure about that? He asked me

"Of course. It can't be much stronger than the ones that have already appeared." I answered

"I'll go with you." Zile said

"No, I'll go alone. We'll need more fighters in case anything else shows up." I added

"True… Alright, I'll stay. But if you meet any trouble, be sure to use your soul phone right away." she called back

"Okay." I answered back and left

Once outside I followed the reiatsu signature that Charlse picked up on the computer. It came from the southern part of the city, near the car junkyard. As soon as I landed, the target moved a little. I followed my senses and ended up right in the middle of the car junkyard. I looked around to see if I found whatever was emmiting such strange spirit energy, when I turned I saw him, just standing there.

A tall skinny man with a white, long sleeve outfit. Part of his face covered by a bone mask with two slits in it that went up covering his head like a hat, except it was longer on the right side. He approached me, silently, and introduced himself.

"My name is Shawlong Kufang… and you are?"

"I am Kirou Senshi, third seat of squad one." I answered

"Shall we begin?" he asked calmly

"Begin what?"

"I was sent here to kill the first Shinigami I saw, which just so happens to be you." he answered

"And I suppose you Intend to blindly follow that?"

"Clueless…"

He dissapeared and appeared behind me, I blocked an incoming sword with mine.

"The only reason I told you my name was so you would know who is going to kill you!" he added

I stepped back and got ready for battle. He moved towards me, and an incredible speed, our swords clashed. I shunpoed behind him and swing, but he stopped it with his hand. I then slid my foot and tripped him, then flipped around and tackled before he hit the ground. He slid back on the ground a little then got up and flew at me again. I used shunpo to evade and attacked from above, he stepped back and dodged it, so I kicked him in the gut.

From the looks of it, he was furious. He appeared behind me again, only this time he actually kicked me. I was sent forward a few feet, but manager to make a handstand and regain my footing. As soon as I did, I saw multiple sword slashes coming my way. I don't know how but I managed to block most of them, ending up with a small wound on my forearm and shoulder. He jumped at me, but I rolled forward and got out of the way, he turned around with great speed for a slash, which I blocked, still kneeling, but was sent skidding backwards from the force. As I stood up I heard a voice speak to me inside my head.

"Call my name."

"I can handle him alone." i answered

"Really? Cause it looks like he's not even trying, yet he's wiping the floor with you." he asked

"I'm just giving him some time while I find a way to kill him."

"Why are you so stubborn? Can't you just accept that some things you can't do alone?"

"Just give me some more time!" i answered

"Whatever…"

I ran towards Shawlong as fast as I could and dived into him, sword first. He quickly dodged, I flipped, landed and turned for another trique, which he blocked. I took a chance and double slashed quickly, one of them was blocked, the other landed straight across his chest. He took a few steps back.

"See, I told you I could handle it." I told to my Zanpaktou

"Oh yeah! He lands five hits you land one. Keep it up and you'll win in no time!" he answered

"Cut the sarcasm!"

"What's he doing?"

I looked up to see Shawlong charging a large amount of spirirt energy into his hand. I got ready for him to release it so i could dodge it. At the moment he released it I used shunpo to move out of the way and go behind him. I landed the strike, but just at the split second where my body became unprotected, he kicked upwards without looking. I was sent flying upwards. I managed to flip in midair using the reishi in the atmosphere to try to stop my body from moving. However just i was able to gain my balance, a large red blast of reiatsu crashed against me. I fell straight downwards into a pile of junk. I traed getting up to continue the battle, but I heard his voice call me again.

"Get over here!"

My eyes went blank for a second. I wasn't on the battle field anymore. I was on a mountain, overlooking a dry wasteland with some other mountains in the distance. I looked into the destance, forgetting was I was doing before meeting there. Someone tapped on my shoulder and i turned around. Instantly a big fist crashed against my forehead!

"What was that for!?" I yelled

"CAN YOU BE ANY MORE STUBBORN!" he yelled back

"What more do you want! He's an arrancar, their lowest forms are way powerful. This one seems to fight as if he has rank." I answered

"I'm not talking about your battle style, I'm talking about your way of thinking! When are you going to understand that some things can't be done alone… would you at least look at me when I talk to you? I'm your Zanpaktou, for pete's sake!" he reprimanded me

"I… I can't."

"What?"

"I can't!"

"What do you mean you can't? Is it that hard to say my name? You've done it countless times before. We've shared the same power, we've reached incredible amounts of power, together. Yet whenever we're in the middle of the battlefield you forget everything you've learned. What's your damage?"

"There are just som things about me you don't know, that you may never understand." I responded

"That's why I'm here. I'm your friend. I'm not just your sword. I reflect you. If there is anything you ever need help with I can be there. All you gotta do is call me, but nooooo, I can handle everything by myself." he continued

"It's just…" I started

"Come on… sit here and tell me." he said, as we sat down on the edge of the cliff, looking down upon the dry land. "What's on your mind?"

"Well… it's just… when I was little… I had few friends. We had some good times together but… whenever I needed them, they were never there. I had a LOT of troubles growing up in school… and the only person that was ever there for me was… my big brother. He was awesome. He was really tall and really strong… at least it seemed that way since I was little.

He would pick me up everyday at school and scare away all the kids who bothered me. Whenever my parents were busy he would take me out for ice-cream and to the movies… and if we ever saw some of the kids from school when we were out he would puff out his chest all scary like that and make a mean face and they would all get scared.

But then… he became a proffesional and his job made him have to leave the country… and… and then when the kids at school found out they started picking on me more and more. It got to the point where i had to find a way to defend myself. And I started getting in trouble in school, gettting suspended and detention… I almost ended up juvi-hall once.

I know hes a grown man now, and he has his own life… but I really miss him. So ever since then I decided that I woas going to take care of everything, absolutely everything that went on in my life by myself… I need to prove to myself that I can… so if my brother ever comes back, I can show him how much of a man I've become… and that his actions taught me a lot of things.

So you see… I need to do things by myself… I need to prove that I can…" I ended with a sigh

"hehehe… hehe… Oh boy…" he responded

"Why are you laughing?" I asked

"You don't need to prove anything to yourself. Youre the most independent person I've seen. You're brother would be proud of you. Look at me Kirou… why dont you ever look at me?" he asked

"Because… you… you look way too much like him." i responded

"Like your brother?"

"Yeah… in everything. Your face, your height, your body structure… even your hair and the way you stand… it's like you're him… except that look in your eyes when youre saying how i should call youre name, thats totally you! Haha!"

"Look at me Kirou." he said, I looked at him and smiled. "Some things in life you can't do alone, while others you have to. Battle isn't one of them. When we battle, we fight as one. Like two souls in one body. You are with me even when youre alone… so in retrospect, youre never alone."

"Wow… you have a way with words… just like Tetsu." i said

"So… what do you say?" he asked

"Alright… I'll fight with you… Onii-san"

We smiled and I saw a bright light cover the dry land below us. I looked at it and saw how the once dry, barren land became lush, green, and bright with life. It shone across brightly and beautifully. As i continued admiring it, my eyes went blank and I slowly returned to the car junkyard. I got up from between the junk. Shawlong approached me slowly. As he did, I began charging my reiatsu. It felt stronger than it usually did.

"I'm susprised you can still form an increase in your espiritual energy." he said

"Thats because I'm not alone… It just goes to show you how awesome I am." I responded "Now…"

I held my sword in front of me horizontally and let go of it… it floated in midair.

"Divide and Conquer… Zanjutsu." (Art of swords.)

My Zanpaktou let off sparkles outward from the handle and turned into a double blade. As if two swords had been joined together by the handle. I raised my index and middle fingers together, like when we perform Kidou, as my Zanpaktou floated in front of them. I flashed towards Shawlong and swing at him, he blocked. I then doubled up with several more slashes, he managed to block some of them, but the majority hit. I then switched stances.

I slashed an invisible line with my fingers through the center of Zanjutsu's double handle, splitting the weapon into two separate sword. I continued slashing madly at him, changing my position randomly around him with shunpo. I gave a final slash that sent him flying backwards, then took a chance and aimed at him.

"Hadou no san-juu-ichi, Shakahou!" (Hadou 31, Red flame cannon)

A large explosion occured, but instead of feeling a decrease in spirit pressure, i felt an increase. I heard his voice call out some power.

"Snip, Tijereta!"

A light shone in between the smoke, which he cleared out with a swing of his tail… yeah he had a tail. His release form was the strangest thing ever. His mask grew to outline his face. His arm had become bones and his fingers grew long and bone thin. His tail was like the bones of a normal tail but with two ends. He charged red energy and released it at me with great speed. I joined my blade back together quickly and made it spin, a technique I saw Captain Brian use, this caused the cero to break apart. I then decided to go up one more level.

BAN-KAI

As the smoke from the blast cleared, my Bankai came into view. In front of me, floating a few inches from my left hand was a large 'X' made of four blades joined together. Behind me, another 'X' floated a few inches away from my right hand. I looked up to see Shawlong surprised.

"Kyousei Zanjutsu." (Great art of swords.)

I joined both weapons together forming a large star. They began to spin rapidly, gathering reishi from the atmosphere. Once it charge enough it began releasing small burtst of reiatsu rapidly in large numbers. Shawlong tried blocking them but he wasnt fast enough and got hit by almost all of them. I separated the star back into two 'X' blades, then called out one of Zanjutsu's abilities.

"Divide!"

The 'X's divided into four of Zanjutsu's shikai, which positioned themselves next to my hands, one on each side of each hand. I flashed towards Shawlong once more and swing my hand at him, he blocked both blades, but was not able to block the trique from my other hand, recieving two cuts on his chest and getting sent flying backwards into a pile of cars.

"Divide!"

The double blades divided once again into eight separate normal sized swords. They floated next to me as I used shunpo towards Shawlong again. I sent all eight blades forward trapping his clothes into the cars in eight different, very specific locations on his body, completely immobilizing him. I came close to him.

"How… can you have such power…" he asked

"Maybe you forgot what i told you… My name is Kirou Senshi, I am the third seat of squad One… you mess with me, you get three seats of pain."

I said and took a step back.

"I could just let those wounds open and let you bleed to death, but I'm more of a rapid kill guy. Sprinkled on the bones of a beast! Pointy tower, red crystal, steel cartwheels. Move and make wind. Stop and make calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle… Hadou no roku-juu-san, Raikouhou" (Hadou 63, Thunder Roar Cannon

I blasted the Kidou at him at point blank, creating a massive explosion that sent me flying backwards as well. I landed softly and summoned the eight blades back to me. They circled around me once, and then joined together with light, going back into Zanjutsu's sealed form. I sheathed him back, as he thanked me for finally having called his name after so long. I turned and begn walking away back to the squad house.

"That was for you… Tetsu."


	4. Chapter 4

Behind The Masks

Chronicles

Chapter 4

The princess and the thorns

It is very nice to meet you, my name is Loren Roselin. I am the Vice-Captain of squad 2, under Captain Lahara Matsuo. This is my chronicle.

It began on a day like any other, the sun shone brightly in between the few clouds up on the sky. Lahara, Cindy and I were at the clothes shop. Finally doing some well deserved shopping, but still worried about what was going on with the appearances of the Arrancar that were supposed to be dead. Worried as we were, we still couldn't let it rule our lives, so we took a day off, all three of us, to go shopping like we had planned.

"Ugh, this does not look good on me. Unless it's a small accessory, I can never wear anything pink and have it look nice. Here try this Loren." Lahara said as she handed me a dress from over the wall that divided her and my dresser.

"Wow, the design is so pretty… but it would look a lot better in green. Here Cindy, check it out." I said as I passed it on to Cindy the same way.

"Eww, green? Black looks so much better on me." Cindy commented

"Me too." Lahara added

"Now this, this is nice. Check it out." Cindy said as she passed me a black blouse.

"Wow… it's so pretty. Still, green is so my color." I said and passed it on to Lahara

"You're spending way too much time with your Zanpaktou." Cindy joked from her side

"Totally. Wow it is nice." Lahara added

"Well, Chris said we should… isn't he like our Head Captain?" I asked

"Hmhmm… he is _my _Head Captain!" Lahara answered

"Ooooh, somebody's in love." Cindy commented

"Oh, you have no idea. He's the perfectly ultimate Prince Charming… and those muscles! O.M.G.!" she answered in high pitch tone.

"Really? I always thought of him as a skinny guy." Cindy said

"Well you obviously haven't seen him without a shirt." Lahara added

"I've never really seen anything attractive in him." I said "Finally a good green blouse!"

"Okay now I'm curious… what's he like?" Cindy asked

"Well… it's like Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds put together!" she answered

"Wow, that _is_ hot! Ooh nice skirt." Cindy said

"And mine, all mine!" Lahara added

"Don't worry about it girl, he's not my type." Cindy high pitcher

"And what is your ty-*gasp*"

"*gasp*"

"*gasp*"

"You felt that too right?" Cindy asked

"Yeah… two signatures…" Lahara added

"We can shop later… can we go?" I asked

"Quick, let's move!" Lahara said

We quickly put everything back and left the store as fast as we could. There were two strong signals of spirit energy coming from close by. One of them was significantly stronger than the other. Lahara seems to have gotten some of Chris's traits; she quickly went all leader on us, which was good since both Cindy and I were totally lost about what to do.

"Cindy… can you take care of the signal far east?" She asked

"It doesn't seem too strong… Yea I can take it." Cindy responded

"I'm sure you can, you're one of my strongest girls. Loren and I will take this other signal." she added

"It feels so dense." I said

"We can take it." she said with a smile, and we parted ways.

We changed into our soul forms and went onwards to battle. We took the skies and searched around for our target. From far away we could see the silhouette of someone floating there as if nothing were happening. We approached the figure. A tall, dark skinned woman with long, platinum blonde hair. Her strange shirt covered her breasts and her mouth, but her entire abdomen and hips were completely exposed. She wore long white pants and black boots with white lines. Tied to her back was a sword, apparently her Zanpaktou. She seemed a familiar to me, as if I had seen her before.

"Tia Harribel…" Lahara said under her breath

"What?" I asked

"Be careful Loren, she's no pushover."

"Finally someone to kill… are you ready to die?" she asked us

"The only one who's going to die here is you, Arrancar. But before you do… would you mind telling us why you're here?" Lahara asked her

"We have been reborn… but only I will rule. No more questions… DIE!!" she disappeared

She reappeared right on front of Lahara, both blades clashed. They both used their flash techniques and flashed about the sky at high speeds, blocking each other's blades in every encounter. One of them was going to give in sooner or later, and I had to make sure Lahara wasn't it. I unsheathed my Zanpaktou, a sleek short sword with a dark green handle and a flower shaped guard. I pointed the blade downwards and called her name.

"Lash… Midorihime." (Green Princess)

The blade turned into a long, green whip with several thorns, the tip of the whip was bright red like a rose. I waited for a moment in which both blades met so I could whip at Harribel successfully. I saw the blades meet and lashed the whip forward, snaring Harribels leg. I pulled her downward towards me, and then let her go mid swing. Midorihime's whip extends and retracts at will, so by drawing several circles with the handle I can make the whip extend into multiple circles. Once the whip had surrounded the still falling Harribel a few times, I pulled back, causing the whip to trap her completely. The tip of the whip became a bright red rose, which upon contact with Harribel, exploded, leaving a cloud of bright red dust.

I retracted the whip, feeling good that I had done something, but I noticed Lahara was still uneasy, she knew something was up. I felt a large amount of energy charge from Harribel's position. As soon as I felt it release I used shunpo to escape, but I wasn't as fast as I thought and ended up with a partly singed kimono. Upon looking down at Harribel I noticed her skin hadn't been pierced by the thorns of my whip, like it would Ushuaia to a normal enemy.

"You okay?" Lahara asked me

"Yeah, just a scratch." I answered

"Be careful…" she added and began her release

"Spin… Tatsumakimaru!" (Tornado Ring)

Harribel flew towards her, blade in hand. Lahara blocked her blade with one of her fans, then with a swift spin slashed with the other. She followed up with a double back flip, both of which were blocked. I lashed my whip forward, the tip turned into a rose again and exploded upon contact. Using the smoke from the blast as cover I used one of Midorihime's abilities called flying thorn. I flicked the handle, releasing all of the thorns from the whips body. They flew towards Harribel causing small explosions on contact. New thorns grew on the whip after the explosions.

Lahara took a chance and spun towards Harribel, building up enough momentum to create a tornado around her body. Upon contact with Harribel, not only did she manage to cut her multiple times, but the winds from the tornado blew Harribel backwards some distance. It would have carried her even further, had it not been for what she did.

"Attack… Tiburon!" (Shark)

The blast from her release form's reiatsu was enough to knock off Lahara's tornado.

"Loren... Can you hold her off for a minute? I need to gain enough momentum for this next move if we stand any hope of winning this." she said, a tone of concern in her voice

"No problem." (Yeah right! she's an espada, I'm a vice-captain!) I thought

"You can do it… I know you can." I heard Midorihime speak to me

Suddenly I found myself in the center of a rose garden; a soft breeze caressed my hair and face. The garden seemed to expand forever in every direction. In front of me a lady with red hair and a dress made of different colored rose petals.

"Do you really think I should use it?" I asked her

"It would be my honor if you would let my rose bud bloom once again." she said

"You like it when I use it don't you?" I asked once again

"It's just so much fun!" she answered

"Alright, I'll do it."

Instantly my vision returned to where I was before. Harribel came close enough for me to be able to clearly see her release form. It was a simple dress, short skirt and boots, long gloves and a bra. On her hand a large sword shaped like a sharks tooth.

"Prepare for your death." she said as she raised her blade

"I'm not even going to waste my breath on you." I waited until I heard Lahara begin to speak so I could shout loud enough to cover her voice.

BANKAI

A strong glow was released from my whip, circling around me. The thorns on the whip released from its body and grew into large red roses, about the size of pillows, and circled slowly around me. Countless, beautiful red roses floating close to me.

"Midorihime no oujou rozu" (Green Princess's Death Rose)

At the same time I called my bankai's full name, I heard Lahara called hers.

"Jipushi Hidenka Tatsumakimaru" (Gypsy Princess Tornado Ring)

"Tell me, Tia Harribel… are you ready to die?" I asked

"Death isn't so bad… I've been dead before." she answered

"Then you won't mind when I do this."

I summoned one of Midorihime's Bankai's abilities: the death rose. I sent my whip forward, it moved much faster now, and wrapped it around Harribel's arm. I pulled her towards me, and then sent forward ten of my roses. The rose's petals separated and flew towards her individually. Each petal exploded upon contact, even when she tried to block them. The explosions were enough to send her skidding backwards. The remaining pieces of the petals joined together and reformed back to me in the shape of normal sized roses. I felt a sudden burst of icy cold pressure that came along with a blue light from afar. I ignored it and kept my focus.

The smoke cleared allowing a clear view of Harribel's explosion burns, including the burn on her arm from when the whip trapped her. Just then Lahara sent me a reishi signal so I would get ready. A reishi signal is something Lahara invented. It's a small jolt of spirit energy that travels at high speed in a straight line. We use it to send each other signals for multiple different purposes in mid-battle without having to speak out loud. I followed her signal, it felt like it said 'trap', so I flew forward, dodged her blade with shunpo, and wrapped her in my whip.

The whip began heating up, as she tried to escape. She was just about to break free when Lahara came spinning at an almost invisible speed, with three massive tornadoes surrounding her. The instant I felt her I called all of the remaining roses back to me, let go of the whip and got out of the way. Lahara combined the three tornadoes into one massive death whirlwind, her fans spinning inside it. My roses were sucked in along with the tornado, separating into a curtain of petals. They all began exploding, leaving red dust behind. The tornado contained the explosions inside, which caused more damage.

A sharp scream of pain echoed through the sky as a final explosion dissipated every last trace of spirit energy. The blue light that came from afar shone once again. We turned towards where it came from.

"You think she's ok?" I asked

"I'm sure she is." she responded


End file.
